Chapter 422 A Staggering Blow to the Pope

Mutumbu was a Cardinal favored by the Pope. He had just been promoted from White-robed Worshipper to Red-robed Cardinal. As long as he managed to settle a few things, he would be able to easily attain a high-level position and be promoted to a Red-robed Archbishop. Then, the most prosperous area east of the Delar Empire would be under his control, and his family would naturally take the opportunity to benefit from it.

There was undoubtedly a great chance right in front of him to gain more of the Pope's favor!

In order to deal with Yang Ling, the influential Lord of the Magical Beasts, the Church seemed to be doing nothing on the surface. However, they had activated many elites in secret to take part in a mission. If he could gain intelligence about the situation in Jaboli and what was going on around Yang Ling, he would definitely have made a great contribution.

"Lord Cardinal, there's a hotel next door. Are were going to stay there?" a Knight whispered in question, breaking Mutumbu's fantasy.

"Battyer, find the cheapest hotel and get the worst room that over a dozen people can stay in. Don't forget our current identities!" Even though he could not wait to throw his worn and dirty armor into the sea, Mutumbu had no choice but to continue with the disguise in order to successfully complete his mission. After falling silent in thought for a while, he continued, "Keep in contact with the bunch of crazy people in the Judgement Court. Tell them that we have arrived in Jaboli!"

"Yes, sir!" The tall, strong knight left to do his bidding. Unexpectedly, just as he had strode to the door, a black shadow rushed in with a 'whoosh' sound. In an instant, he was bumped into hard enough that he saw stars, felt giddy, and then felt faint.

"Hmph, bastard is courting death!" Touching the huge swollen bump on his head, the Knight Battyer was furious, pulling his sharp long sword out with a 'swoosh' sound. As a Guardian Knight, he was usually the one bumping into people. He did not expect to have been bumped into and almost get his head split open today.

At first, he was already unhappy about having to disguise himself as a down and out trooper. The stench on his clothes alone was enough to make him lose his appetite. After finding out that he had to stay in the worst hotel and squeeze in with over a dozen people in the worst room, he felt even more unhappy. After getting bumped into roughly, the unhappiness in his heart exploded.

"Hehe, how can you have the nerve to take out this piece of lousy metal?!" After parting the curtains, the Dark Dragon King strode in, looking coldly at the furious Battyer. Behind him, Yang Ling, the Corpse Wizard King, and the gang slowly strolled in.

The Lord of the Magical Beast Realm, Yang Ling?

Looking at Yang Ling behind the Dark Dragon King, Mutumbu was shocked. He did not expect to encounter the target of this trip so quickly. After rolling his eyes, he pretended to cough in pain. "Battyer, quick, go and see if there are any suitable hotels. Otherwise, we will have to stay out of the city tonight!"

Before going on the mission, Mutumbu and his party had seen a portrait of Yang Ling. Seeing the target appear had made them nervous, but also a bit excited. Originally, they had been worried about how they were going to sneak into the heavily guarded Main Residence to gain intelligence if Yang Ling stayed inside all the time practicing cultivation. It was good that they immediately encountered their target not too long after reaching Jaboli.

"Yes, sir!"

Battyer might be furious, but he was not a fool. With Mutumbu's reminder, he immediately noticed Yang Ling, who was behind the Dark Dragon King. While speaking, he picked up his sword and kept it, turned sideways. He walked towards the door, preparing to go outside to find a cheaper hotel. Unexpectedly, the Dark Dragon King and Corpse Wizard King stood on either side blocking his exit. There was a full, murderous aura!

Could it be that they had discovered the identities of this party?

One event happens right after another! After seeing the murderous looks on the guards encircling Yang Ling, the knights and Spellcasters disguised as troops held tight onto their weapons out of nervousness. According to word on the street, there are Experts all around Yang Ling. If their identities were accidentally exposed, he did not dare think of the consequences.

"Battyer, why don't you apologize to His Lordship?" After getting over his nerves, Mutumbu gave Battyer a meaningful look, striding over while speaking. "His Lordship, we are troops from the Delar Empire. As we had not gotten much rest while on the road, our brothers are all exhausted, and he accidentally bumped into His Lordship. I beg His Lordship to forgive Battyer's rashness!"

Mutumbu was all smiles and personally apologized to Yang Ling. With his signal, the usually brash and impulsive Knight Battyer had no choice but to tuck his tail between his legs and apologize obediently.

"Oh, so it's like this. A misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding!" Yang Ling smiled, paused, and then continued, "I'd like to welcome all to the Magical Beast Realm, but you all do not look familiar. It must be your first time to Jaboli!"

"Yes, yes, yes. It's all just a misunderstanding!" Seeing that Yang Ling had signaled to the Dark Dragon King and the Corpse Wizard King to get out of the way, Mutumbu let out a sigh of relief and unobtrusively wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. After pausing for awhile, he continued, "We are all active within the Delar Empire. We had received a mission this time around, and we are preparing to go into the Amazon Forest to hunt and kill a Blue Lion Beast. As we are short on time, we had rushed all the way here!"

"The Blue Lion Beast is wild and savage by nature. You must be careful! But, I don't understand. Since this is the first time all of you are here in Jaboli, how did you know that I'm the Lord when we had just met?" Yang Ling looked at Mutumbu beside him while smiling, but the cold glint in his eyes grew harder and harder.

With his own capabilities, he had no problem killing this bunch of Church fellows in front of him. However, just killing them off would be letting them off too easily. Before they left, he had already thought of a perfect idea. He wanted to do it in a more exciting way, or else he might as well not do it!

"This…" Looking at the hidden dagger in Yang Ling's smile, Mutumbu silently cursed himself. He did not expect to accidentally let slip what he knew.

What to do?

Could it be that he had to fight his way out?

On the surface Mutumbu had no reaction; however, silently, he was bitterly complaining non-stop. Yang Ling was simply too powerful. Not mentioning if his party and him had the ability to fight their way out, even if they got lucky and managed to escape with their lives, they would definitely be severely punished after they returned to the Church. Not only would he lose the chance to be promoted to Red-robed Archbishop, he might not even get to keep his newly promoted position of Red-robed Cardinal that he just managed to get his hands on.

After falling silent in deep thought for awhile, looking at the huge Main Residence not too far away, and looking at the troops and tourists who had stopped in their tracks to look, Mutumbu had a sudden thought. "His Lordship, many wandering poets had been all over, singing about the exploits of you defeating more than a hundred Golden Giant Dragons. The poet had even drawn many portraits of you. You might not know about us insignificant troops, but which trooper and adventurer on this continent does not know the famous you?"

Smart and sly!

Seeing the fast reaction from Mutumbu, Yang Ling's smile grew even more brilliant. After Yang Ling snapped his fingers, the Corpse Wizard King immediately unrolled a portrait they had just rushed to make. "Sir Troop Team Leader, recently pirates have been ravaging the sea areas near Jaboli. This man is the so-called Great White Shark, the Pirate King Swift. Can you tell me where exactly this man is?"

The Great White Shark Swift?

Even though he had vaguely heard of the name Pirate King Swift and knew that his men would all have a savage-looking great white shark tattoos on their chests, Mutumbu had never seen the man himself before. He definitely would not know of his whereabouts. When he saw the portrait that the Corpse Wizard King had unrolled, he was in a state of shock for awhile.

The man in the portrait had long eyes, a high nose, and sharp eyes. He looked exactly like Mutumbu himself!

"Swift, you and your cohorts here disguised yourselves as a bunch of troops on land in an attempt to plunder Jaboli city and assassinate His Lordship. Now do you still deny the charges with the evidence against you?" At Yang Ling's signal, the Corpse Wizard King clapped his hands, and immediately soldiers carrying the Pear Blossom Crossbow streamed into the bar, entirely surrounding Mutumbu and his party. The crossbow arrows gleamed black. It was obvious that the arrows were covered in fatal poison.

A couple of days ago when Ashnamov was patrolling the seas, he unintentionally caught a big fish, the Great White Shark Swift. At first, Yang Ling intended to make him an example and behead him in public, but seeing that he looked similar to Mutumbu, he had a sudden thought of secretly substituting one for the other. The Church had always seen themselves as emissaries of God, and they were always talking about compassion and mercy. Losing a bunch of knights and Spellcasters would be nothing to them, but damage to their reputation would hit them where it hurt the most.

"Heavens, the Pirate King Swift?"

"Kill him; kill that bastard!"

…

After being sent out of the bar by the soldiers and understanding what was going on, the people exclaimed in surprise. Slowly, the onlookers crowding around grew more and more. There were people who called for them to be killed, and others who were doubtful. The Great White Shark Swift was known as the sly fox of the sea. After travelling on the seas for a few decades, why would he come to shore on impulse?

"His Lordship, this is a misunderstanding, definitely all a misunderstanding!" Looking at the swarms of Pear Blossom Crossbows surrounding them, Mutumbu's heart sank even lower.

"Words don't prove anything. How can you prove that you are not a pirate?" Yang Ling smiled coldly. With a wave of his right hand, the first row of soldiers immediately released the first wave of crossbow arrows. Despite that Mutumbu and his party were prepared, still more than a dozen men fell in a pool of blood. After their wounds got infected by the deadly poison, their bodes turned black, and in the blink of an eye they stopped breathing.

Faced with a threat to his life, a Spellcaster panicked and casted the Holy Shield to protect himself without any regard for the consequences. It exposed his identity carelessly. As the others saw that their identities were no longer secret, they all began casting the Holy Shield in panic. Nobody wanted to die by being hit by the terrifying Pear Blossom Crossbow.

"Your Lordship, actually, I'm a Cardinal of the Church, in charge of pursuing and capturing a heathen who had escaped into Jaboli. This is my token of order, which can prove my identity!" After seeing that there was no point in hiding anymore, Mutumbu simply just revealed his identity.

There were countless followers of the Church on the continent, including in the Magical Beast Realm. If he declared that they were here in pursuit of a heathen, he did not believe that Yang Ling would be able to slaughter him and his party in broad daylight with so many people watching. After all, if news got out that Yang Ling had slaughtered a group of the Church's followers, it would definitely put immense pressure on Yang Ling. The Church would be able to openly move the Guardian Army and launch an offensive attack on the Magical Beast Realm. In the interest of his Domain, Lord Yang Ling definitely would not dare to act rashly.

"Hehe, good, very good!" After looking at Mubuntu's token of order, Yang Ling carelessly threw it on the ground, and then ruthlessly stomped on it with one foot. "In this day and age, even Pet Cards can be faked. Who knows if this thing is real or fake?"

The soldiers in the bar were all elite, loyal Beastmen. The closest the people outside the bar could get was no more than a few dozen paces away. They could not see in detail what was going on at all. Yang Ling knew that no matter what, this time around Mubuntu and his party would not be able to escape the palm of his hand. While it would be easy to kill them, it was more important to use this as a pretext to deal a blow to the Church's reputation.

If he could lead people to believe that pirates were now disguising themselves as members of the Church and going onto shore to gather intelligence and plunder cities, it would definitely cause a sensation if the news were to spread. According to his intelligence, the Church and the Dark Association were fighting over a few Southern territories by the sea. Those territories all had long coastlines, and the problem of the pirates wreaking havoc was incredibly severe. If this news spread, he believed that it would be a serious blow to the Church's plans to spread the word of God. It was much better than just killing a few dozen insignificant knights and Spellcasters.